15: Reification

Reification is the process of turning an abstract and complex problem into something concrete and simplistic that can be more easily grasped, accepted, and addressed - though addressing it does nothing to solve the problem.

Religion is fraught with reification: the will of the gods substitutes for a more complex reality. The creation of the universe, for example, is a highly complex matter that science attempts to explain in very complicated terms, but it's easier to grasp that it was made by the will of a deity than to attempt to understand the scientific explanations. Even in primitive religions, understanding a divine power as being a man or an animal is easier to grasp.

The very purpose of reification is to protect the ego by allowing a person to assert that he is intelligent enough to understand the cause of a problem and, optionally, that he is capable enough to address it. This is more palatable to the sense of self-worth than admitting that things are not understood and we have no power to influence them.

(EN: The chapter goes on for a bit, exploring various religious and philosophical perspectives on the self and the degree to which man is capable of influencing events, and doesn't really get back to the point.)